C'mon Tam. Obviously the State of Indiana saw you eating Brigid's cookies (the recipes are amazing enough I can only imagine what the finished product might be) and the Nanny State is gonna save all of you folks from yourselves...

"The most recent study concluded that 10 years ago, obesity related illnesses were already costing the state $1.6 billion a year."

And here we see the obvious but surprisingly insidious way national health care will allow the .gov to slowly gain control over every aspect of our lives. Once our decisions cost the .gov money, it's no longer "none of their business" - it gives them the lampshade they need to justify controlling our lives for us.

Wait- the Indiana Department of Health is spending money to induce its citizens to not buy the Indiana made products that the Indiana Department of Agriculture is spending money to get Indianans to buy?

I have a cunning idea!Make the mandatory exercise and diet requirements incumbent on the Government (and them only). Let all the rulers from the Governor down to the lowliest State DOT sign holder lead by example.

Hell, just getting the cops in your town off the sauce should move your state up at least two positions in the rankings.

Since obesity is epidemic in the US and a root cause of many diseases (ever see a fat old person?) How about free health care for anyone in shape. That cuts the health care budget 60% right there. Let all you fatties take care of yourselves. Think Darwin would approve.

Tam, surely you've seen the hideous creatures that are too fat to even walk themselves through WalMart or the grocery store? Wall-e is here and now.

First and foremost, I don't believe the government has any fracking business in healthcare. Once the bureaucrats stuck their protuberances in our rectal and vaginal cavities, however, you can bet your ass I have no desire to see the money they stole from me being used to treat conditions that are a direct result of sitting on the couch while twinkie-stuffing and HFCS slurping.

Tax the living shit out of chips, pop, candy, and all the other garbage we Americans (Hoosiers) stuff our pieholes with.Just leave the good stuff tax-free. Of course, being government, they'll frack up determing what's junk and what's not.

The problem, Buzz, as you allude to in the last line, is having the Feddle Gubmint decide what is "good" or "bad" for us is not going to work - aside from giving the bastards yet another chokehold on individual liberty. Next thing you know, Big Chip will get not only a tax exemption but a subsidy.